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Brighton cannot be defeatist in run-in, Chris Hughton says

Chris Hughton wants his Brighton players to look forward to their final five games

Chris Hughton wants his Brighton players to look forward to their final five games

Chris Hughton wants a positive attitude from his players as Brighton prepare for a tough end to the season.

The Seagulls are seven points clear of the relegation zone, but they face Tottenham, Burnley, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool in their final five games.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday's home game against Spurs, live on Sky Sports, Hughton said he wants the team to believe in themselves.

"The run-in is challenging but that is something we knew. What we have to have is a group of players that look forward to that challenge.

"We want it to be in our own hands, that is always the best way. I think going into this group of games we will need to get some points from these games.

"What we don't want to be doing is continually looking over our shoulder and relying on other results to go our way.

"It is always best if it is in your own hands. They are tough games but we have looked at some [recent] results, West Brom yesterday, our result at home to Arsenal, and I don't think you can go into any game with a defeatist attitude.

"We need to make sure we have a team and a group of players that will look forward to playing in every game."

Highlights: Crystal Palace 3-2 Brighton

Highlights: Crystal Palace 3-2 Brighton

The match against Hughton's former side Tottenham is one of only two remaining home games. Manchester United visit the Amex Stadium on May 4, also on Sky Sports, but Hughton is not focusing on the home games any more than the away matches.

He added: "It's not a question of targeting those games, we recently had two home games against Leicester and Huddersfield and we know that on the balance of a season they are perhaps better opportunities for us to get points than at other places.

"Generally our home form has been very good but I don't think you can have a defeatist attitude about going away from home.

"I think it is very difficult to target the home games. You can only target the next game and when the home games come around then possibly you might feel there is a better opportunity of winning but we're certainly not targeting them."